"There's already a thread for that"

First of all, threads decay. Regardless of the importance of the topic. It is not as simple as 'survival of the fittest' where important threads will continue to be commented on and thus remain near the top of the pile. The need for 'sticky threads' proves this. The problem is the linear nature of threads: everyone sees the top post, and the second, but somewhere near the first page break, a thread reaches its half lifeyou know you seldom read the second page, never the fourth, so why bother commenting on a thread that's reached maturity? Not to mention how inevitably threads get hijacked and the conversation becomes about a comment that isn't remotely related to the original post. Or how all topics get stale no matter how interesting, and sometimes we need a break. Does that mean we should never discuss it again? And when someone does decide enough time's gone by, is he/she expected to click through pages of threads until the correct one from two weeks ago is found?

And when someone does decide enough time's gone by, is he/she expected to click through pages of threads until the correct one from two weeks ago is found?

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This is exactly why there is a search function. If the topic already exists it will show up while searching for it. That thread probably has the answer or discusses a very similar topic or relation to the topic. Therefore, the new thread was not necessary.

Most of the time there is 4 or 5 threads on the subject, all fairly recent and on the same page! Usually started by newbies! There are guys that have been on here less than a month who have started more threads than people who have been on here years!
The search function is the most under used tool on MR.

Most of the time there is 4 or 5 threads on the subject, all fairly recent and on the same page! Usually started by newbies! There are guys that have been on here less than a month who have started more threads than people who have been on here years!
The search function is the most under used tool on MR.

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Calm down dude...you spend too much time on here if that bothers you that much.

I genuinely agree with the OP. "There's already a thread for that" is only useful when the other thread is still pretty new, in which case I provide links to those threads.

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Well this and if the previous threads answered the question, then links can be provided. I search these forums quite a bit. In fact, I recall someone talking about MagicJack and I opted to search. While my questions weren't quite answered, it was good enough. If I had more questions, I would have started a new thread because the others were quite old.

Either way, who cares, I suppose. Every so often I wonder (and ask) why posters just don't join current discussions, but I'm not sure I'm really all that mad about it. Hell, I'm not really all that mad in general. Shocker, I know.

"MagicJack" is a unique identifier, and will thus perform well as a keyword. Topics such as iOS 7, on the other hand, can get so over-parsed that there are very few descriptive keywords, and they all start to blend together, yielding inconsistent results. Here's my theory on that: since iOS 7 is in beta, so is the nomenclature. So it's not that the concepts aren't there, we just haven't invented the words yet! Instead, we describe the concepts as long phrases consisting of the same paltry set of ingredients, like Taco Bellvery bad for searchability.

I generally agree with the OP. Most of the time, I end up not participating in a conversation, because the thread seems like it's already reached that point where the on-topic discussion is over and people are just chatting.

I don't see anything wrong with that at all, as long as the original topic has been discussed. This is another weird thing about MR sometimes. I understand the need to keep threads on topic, but conversations generally aren't linear; especially when you have 10+ people participating.

Speaking of non-linear.. this post isn't either. Back on topic:

When the thread in question is a help thread, then most of the time I think a new thread is warranted. The general aspects of the problem are probably similar to someone else's, but there may be a few differences and those differences most likely make the solution different.

I feel like it's something that is left up to the poster's discretion.. which doesn't always work out, but sometimes it does. And it seems like even when it does, you get those snotty people who come in and spend more time searching for the old threads and pasting them into the reply box than it would take to simply answer the question.

(Sidenote: I do realize that sometimes providing links to former threads is helpful and necessary. But a lot of the time the person is being a douche about it.)

Staff Member

I think it can be useful in a lot of cases to continue any discussion of the original topic in a single thread. There are definite advantages to searching for an answer to a problem, and finding all the info here in one hit, rather than spread across multiple threads.

If the problem is specific enough then of course a separate thread is enough. If the thread you find is VERY old, so old that there's really nothing there at all that can be helpful now, then it's fine to start a new thread.

The problem is that many members just don't bother to search; they start a new thread because that's easiest. That irritates members because it clutters up the forums, and it creates more work for mods.

There's no point in getting upset if someone points out that there's a thread that might help. You can either say thanks, or say that you saw that thread when you were searching (hint hint), but it didn't answer your question.

There does seem to be a pattern emerging on MR lately as to what type of threads are most common. People leaving one platform for another and why the other is so rubbish seems to be the most popular. Why iOS7 has ruined Apple. The Cheap iPhone, and why Android is so much more free. Bent and scratched iPhones, the list goes on and on and on.....

I find myself defending Apple way more than I ever intended to do. I joined here as a long time Android user who had recently bought an iPhone so thought I had enough experience of both to contribute. However I often see the same arguments back and forth and the main problem is, people can not accept what is right for them isn't always right for others. For a site dedicated to Apple, I've found it to contain far more posters who have issues with Apple products, rather than users who are wishing to share their positive experiences. I still enjoy the more productive discussions, they just aren't as common as I'd expected. Hey ho

Staff Member

There does seem to be a pattern emerging on MR lately as to what type of threads are most common. People leaving one platform for another and why the other is so rubbish seems to be the most popular. Why iOS7 has ruined Apple. The Cheap iPhone, and why Android is so much more free. Bent and scratched iPhones, the list goes on and on and on.....

I find myself defending Apple way more than I ever intended to do. I joined here as a long time Android user who had recently bought an iPhone so thought I had enough experience of both to contribute. However I often see the same arguments back and forth and the main problem is, people can not accept what is right for them isn't always right for others. For a site dedicated to Apple, I've found it to contain far more posters who have issues with Apple products, rather than users who are wishing to share their positive experiences. I still enjoy the more productive discussions, they just aren't as common as I'd expected. Hey ho

Staff Member

I've removed the post Ann, sorry if it appeared to be off topic, that wasn't my intention at all.

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No problem, feel free to put it back! You posted, I asked for an explanation, you gave it, everything got cleared up. Even this convo is related to how the intention of things such as "there's a thread for that" doesn't always translate into how it's understood.

I do find I have to search through some threads I have contributed to by going to my profile and looking at latest posts from myself. I do that simply to find where I left off. The threads move-on here so quickly and the curiosity in us wants to see how the discussion developed after we have made our points. It must be a pain for the mods and agree with the OP that so many threads run along the same lines in terms of topic. Perhaps we could have a sticky thread in iPhone and the alternatives section entitled 'Why I am moving to iPhone' or 'why I am moving to Android'... It would save so much space on the opening page and lets face it, it's by far the most popular subject to discuss at the moment.

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